Electric despatch system



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

0. F. PIKE. BLBGTYRIO DESPATGH SYSTEM N0. 556,532. Patented Aug. 25,18-96.

Witnesses Inve y%@ N y/m. E Mm QfZ/w Attorney.

(No Medal.) 2 Sheets-Sheet; 2. G. P. PIKE.

ELEGTRIG; DESPATGH SYSTEM.

Inventor No. 566,532. Patented Aug. 25, 1896.

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UNITED STATES CHARLES F. PIKE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC DES PATCH SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 566,532, dated August25, 1896.

Application filed May 31, 1895,

To (LZZ whom it may) concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES F. PIKE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and StateofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inElectric Despatch Systems, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention has relation to electric despatch or other railways; and ithas for its object the running of electromotor carriers or othervehicles or cars in pneumatic tubes or those which have been exhaustedof their air, or, in other words, the running of electrometor carriersor vehicles in vacuo.

In carrying out my invention I provide a suitable tube in which aconstant vacuum is maintained, and the carriers or vehicles are providedwith electromotors for propelling the carriers or vehicles through thetube in cacao, whereby the highest speed is obtainable with the greatestsafetyand at a minimum cost; and it has for its further object theprovision of means for inserting the carriers or vehicles into the tubeand receiving them therefrom without affecting the vacuum in the tube.

My invention accordingly consists of the system of electricallypropelling carriers or vehicles in tubes exhausted oftheir-air or inran-21.0, and of the combinations, constructions, and arrangements of Iparts, as hereinafter described in the specification and pointed out inthe claims.

Reference is bad to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is adiagrammatic sectional view of a tube system and electrically-propelledcarriers or vehicles embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a section ofpart of the tube and a top view of part of a carrier. Fig. 3is across-section of a form of tube with line conductors and track-groovesfor the carriers or vehicles. Fig. 4: is an end elevation of part of thefront face of a carrier, and Fig. 5 is a modification.

A represents a line of tube, which may have as many substations,suitably provided with transmitters and receivers for the carriers orvehicles, as hereinafter described for the tube A, and suitable switchesmay be pro- Serial No. 551,221. (No model.)

vided at the junctions of the main and sub* station tubes, as desired,but which are not shown in the drawings, as the same are well known.

a indicates the transmitter end of tube A, and co its receiver end. Thetransmitter a has at both ends gates a and a respectively, which may bemanually or otherwise opened, as desired. In the drawings I have shownthese gates provided with suitably constructed and arrangedcounterbalances a so that they may be easily and quickly raised andlowered manually. Both of these gates are normally lowered or closed.The receiver a is also provided at both ends with gates (Rand arespectively. The gate a is normally raised or opened and the gate anormally lowered or closed. The latter is provided with a counterpoise asimilar to those for gates a 41 ,01 otherwise, as desired, so as to bemanually operated. The gate a is recessed on one side, as shown at (F,so as to leave top and bottom ledges or abutments a a", respectively, orsaid ledges may be otherwise provided, as desired. This gate a is heldin its raised position by a sliding catch 6, which passes under thelower edge of the gate, as shown, and is located in a suitablyconstructed and located chamber Z) on the tube, and has a rear oropposite end connection Z2 with a suitably-pivoted crank-arm If, to theupper end of which is connected a tripper Z1 which normally extends intothe receiver a, so as to be in the path of the carriers or vehicles andbe actuated by the same.

The gate a has a connection with the piston-rod b of a power-cylinder B,which acts to raise said gate after it has been unlocked and descends bygravity to close the receiver a.

In a suitable chamber 0, projecting from tube A, is located a valve 0,having an opening 0' to the atmosphere and a pipe connection 0 with thereceiver a near its outlet end, as shown. The stem for the valve 0 isprovided with a right-angle or bell-crank tripper 0 one end, 0 ,013which normally projects into the tube A, as shown, in which position ofsaid end c the valve Gis closed, and the other end, 0 is in line withthe ledges a a of the gate 665.

1) represents a vacuum-pump having, preferably, a pipe connection clwith a vacuum reservoir or chamber E, from which leads a pipe 6 to thereceiver a, and in said pipe is a cut-off e. c is another pipe leadingfrom chamber E to transmitter a, and is provided with a cut-off c andfrom cylinder B leads a pipe 9 to pipe e, or, if desired, to chamber E,and is provided with a three-way cock or cutoff g, which in its normalposition is open to admit the atmosphere into cylinder B to allow gate ato descend.

Within tube A, on one side thereof, as more plainly shown in Fig. 2, isa line conductor 72, secured to insulator h, which in turn is fastenedto the tube. This line conductor also extends into the transmitter a andhas a connection 72* with a dynamo or other source of electric supply H.A suitable electric switch If is included in connection W.

K represents the carrier or vehicle. In the drawings a carrier is shownmounted on wheels 70, at each end of the same, running in track-grooveslat the top and bottom of tube A. (Seen more plainly in Fig. 3.) Uponthe carrier is an electromotor m, having a belt gear or other connectionon with the journal of one of the wheels 70, as shown more plainly inFig. l, for propelling the carrier, and also has a suitably-locatedcontact-finger or trolley m as shown more plainly in Fig. 2, forcompleting the circuit of the dynamo H from conductor h to the motor m,and thence through the framework of the carrier and the tube A toground.

At a suitable distance from the receiver a the conductor h terminates,as shown at n, Fig. 1, in order that the carrier or vehicle will not beelectrically propelled as it approaches the receiver, but will beadvanced by its acquired velocity, to slacken its speed as it enters thereceiver. The latter has preferably a smaller bore than that of the tubeA, in order that the windage for the carrier in the receiver may begreatly diminished to admit of the carrier more rapidly compressing theair ahead of it to a greater pressure to efiect a stoppage of thecarrier within the shortest length possible.

The operation is as follows: The pump D is constantly in action, whenthe system is in use, to maintain a vacuum in tube A. The carrier K isinserted into the transmitter until its trolley m contacts withconductor h by first raising the gate a the cutoff e in pipe 6 beingclosed, which is its normal condition. After the carrier is so insertedthe gate a is closed and cut-off e is opened and the air in thetransmitter a is exhausted therefrom. The gate a is then raised oropened and the electric switch h is closed, whereupon the carrier ispropelled into and through the tube A in 'vacuo, the gate a and cut-offa being closed. When the carrier passes by the end a of tripper c forvalve 0, the carrier strikes and moves said end 0 to open valve 0 to theatmosphere to supply air through pipe 0 to the receiver a in front ofthe carrier. In

moving said tripper end c the other end 0 of the tripper is also moved,but not out of the line of the ledges a and a of the gate a As thecarrier passes by and moves the tripper b the crank 19 is actuated towithdraw the lock 1) from gate a, which drops or closes, and as it doesso its ledge a strikes the tripper end 0 to close valve 0 and cut offthe air supply to the receiver. The carrier comes to rest in thereceiver before reaching the gate a, whereupon it is raised or opened,the carrier withdrawn from the receiver, and gate a closed. The cut-offe in pipe 6 is open to exhaust the air from the receiver, and saidcut-off is then closed. The three-way cock or cut-off g in pipe 9 isturned to establish communication with vacuum-chamber E to permitcylinder B to raise gate (1. to its locked position, whereupon saidthree-way cock or cut-01f g is returned to its normal position. and allof the said described parts are in position for the successive carriers,the electric switch 723 meanwhile being opened, which is done when asignal is received that the carrier has about reached its destination,or this may be automatically effected in any of the well-known ways.

The tube and receivers and transmitters may be round in cross-section,or be square or oblong or other configuration, as desired. and the trackgrooves or rails may be located to suit the configuration of the tube.

It is obvious that changes in construction and arrangement of parts maybe made without departing from the spirit of my invention,

as, for instance, the gates a and a maybe constructed as shown in Fig.5. The cylinder B not being employed, the piston-rod 11 extends throughinto the atmosphere and is provided with a stuffing-box b, to which isattached the cord and counterbalance-weight a by means of which the gateis opened manually. Gate a is held in a closed position by a slidingcatch 6 constructed and operated the same as sliding catch 1). When thecarrier or vehicle has passed the tripper b of catch b, it comes incontact with the tripper b of sliding catch 6 and the gate a is raisedbythe weight at which is made heavy enough to raise said gate. Thispermits the carrier to pass out of the receiver and be brought to a stopin any manner desired, or, if desired, separate exhausting-pumps D andchambers E may be located at the receiver end of the tubes of thesystem, in which case the pipes e and Q will lead thereto and not to thecommon pump and chamber E, as shown. So too, if desired, storagebatteries upon the carriers or vehicles may be substituted for thedynamos and line conductor h. Therefore, I do not confine myself to thesame as shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim and secure byLetters Patent is- 1. The combination of a tube, exhausting mechanismtherefor, a transmitter having end gates and an exhaust-pipe, a receiverhaving end gates, one of which is controlled in its closing movement bya carrier or vehicle, exhausting mechanism and air-supply devices forthe receiver, electromotor for a carrier or vehicle and a line conductorin said tube for said electromotor-carriers, substantially as set forth.

2. In a pneumatio-despatch-tube system the combination of a main-linetube provided with exhausting mechanism to constantly maintain a vacuumtherein and a receiver provided with two gates, one of which is closedby the action of the arriving carrier and exhausting mechanism for saidreceiver, substantially as set forth.

In a pneumatic-despatch-tube system, the combination of a main-line tubeprovided with exhausting mechanism to constantly maintain a vacuumtherein, a receiver pro- 20 vided with two sealing-gates, one of whichis closed by the action of the arriving carrier, and an air supply andexhausting mechanism for said receiver, substantially as set forth.

4. In a pneumatic-despatch-tube system, the combination of a main-linetube provided with exhausting mechanism to constantly maintain a vacuumtherein, and a receiver provided with two sealing-gates, one of which isclosed and the other opened by the arriving carrier and exhaustingmechanism therefor, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

CHARLES F. PIKE.

YVitnesses:

THos. S. Ronenns, JOH H. Henson.

